Advisory Council

Associate Professor Mark Baker

Mark Baker is Director of the Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation at Monash University and Associate Professor of Holocaust and Genocide studies in the School of Historical, Philosophical and International Studies. He completed his D.Phil at Oxford University and was twice a fellow at the Hebrew University. He is the author of The Fiftieth Gate, a book about memory of the Holocaust which was the recipient of numerous awards and is taught on the NSW curriculum for HSC English studies. He is the President of Shira Melbourne, an Orthodox egalitarian congregation, and was editor for ten years of Generation, a quarterly journal of Australian Jewish life.

Lee Ann Basser

Lee Ann Basser is the CEO of the National Council of Jewish Women Australia (Vic). A foundation member of the New Israel Fund Australia Board and former Reader and Associate Professor of Law at La Trobe University (Vic). Lee Ann is a former member of the Victorian Disability Advisory Council and has served on a number of policy advisory committees and has extensive experience in the community sector.

Robin Margo S.C.

Robin Margo is a senior barrister and mediator and has served in many Jewish leadership roles, including as president of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, as a member of the Committee of Management of the ECAJ and the Executive of the Jewish Communal Appeal and as a director of the Council for Jewish Community Security (NSW) P/L. He was a foundation director of The Sydney Alliance and inaugural president of NIF Australia from 2011-2014.

Justice Ronald Sackville AO

Ronald Sackville AO was a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia from 1994 until 2008. He is currently an Acting Judge of Appeal of the Supreme Court of New South Wales and a Visiting Professorial Fellow at the University of New South Wales. Prior to his appointment as a Judge, he held a variety of positions, including Dean of the Faculty of Law in the University of New South Wales (1979-1981), Chairman of the New South Wales Law Reform Commission (1981-1984) and Chairman of the Judicial Conference of Australia (2004-2006).

Robyne Schwarz AM

Robyne Schwarz AM is a Life Governor and Past President of Jewish Care Victoria. She has served on several Public Sector and Not-for-Profit Boards since retiring from the Royal Children’s Hospital in 2002. She is currently Chair of the Advisory Board of the Australian Centre for Jewish Civilization at Monash University, a Public Member of the Australian Press Council, and a member of the Royal Children’s Hospital Clinical Ethics Committee.

The New Israel Fund Australia Foundation is a leading organisation committed to social justice, human rights and democracy in Israel. We work with Israelis experiencing poverty, discrimination and injustice to create a more inclusive, tolerant and equal society. Based on the vision of the country’s founders, we work towards an Israel that is “based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel… [and] complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex.”